Why not stainless screws?


 
Greg M

Greg M

TVWBB All-Star
When I rehabbed my father's old genesis 1000 and my free silver A a lot of the various screws were rusting. Especially on the 1000 which s older. I replaced most of them with stainless.

In the process of the rehab on the 1000 I replaced the side and swing up table with new durawood ones. A few days ago I noticed most of the screws on the underside of the 3 year old tables were already rusting! This despite the fact i always cover my grills and they both sit at the edge of a covered deck.

There were 34 screws total in the two tables. Cost me about 4 bucks to replace them all (Ace).

But it did strike as idiotic that most of the grill manufacturers don t go with stainless screws and bolts? It might cost an additional 15 or twenty bucks but it would seem to be worth the additional bucks. Maybe not on an el cheapo char broil or similar. But in a more durable grill like a weber it just seems like common sense. Rant over.
 
Greg,
As you found out there are different grades of Stainless Steel and the cheaper versions do actually have a high iron content so rust is still a problem.

When I bought my #8 Truss screws for my side shelves I ordered 304 Stainless. Now, it was a bit more money, but I feel it was well spend knowing I wouldn't have any rust to contend with down the road.

Jeff
 
I have torn apart a lot of Genesis 1000 grills. They all have had rusty screws on the tables. Usually not terrible rust, but rusty, never the less. These grills are 20 years old and I figure that is pretty good for a 20 year old grill. I think Weber probably thinks that is a fair life span for a grill as well.

If they replaced every screw and bolt with stainless, that doesn't mean the frame and other steel parts would not rust. Sure, you can replace them with stainless when you rehabb the grill and they will likely still be there when the frame turns to red dust. I personally don't worry about them too much. i just make sure they are still in good physical shape to reuse them since they are typically not visible when using the grill anyway.

I guess it mostly depends on just how far you want to take the rehab. Replacing every screw, nut and bolt just isn't feasible or necessary for a flip grill in most cases in my opinion.
 
316 Stainless

I have also seen this on every wood or durawood slat tray grill I have worked on. Sometimes they aren't as bad as others, but always rusted. Some REALLY badly...

I searched out options and came up with these from Marsh Fasteners. They are 316 stainless which, from what I can gather, is an even more corrosion resistant version of stainless than 304. I bought several boxes for my many unfinished projects:

http://shop.marshfasteners.com/products.asp?dept=524

I have also purchased 316 stainless bolts and washers from Marsh, both for my grill projects and for the campground community I manage. We replaced many of our street signs, and it was a pretty horrible show what even stainless bolts from Ace looked like after a few years in our wet, salt air environment:p. I am hoping that 316 will buy more time. They do seem to be very well made.
 
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Bruce I agree I wouldn't change out to stainless on flip grills. But a grill you plan to keep is a different matter. At least to me. It's partly cosmetic but I also don't really want that rust in contact with other metal parts on a grill i plan to keep indefinitely.

And I can see these screws rusting in original 20+ year old genesis 1000s. But I was surprised they started rusting on a new part after only 3 years.

Jon I agree stainless 316 is the most corrosion resistant. But 304 is really good too and will last a long time as well. I was told the stainless screws that ace sells are 304. I used some of those 3 years ago on my two grills and they don't have a bit of rust.

Larry I agree I think brass is fine too. I have a bare uncoated brass safety razor that obviously sees hard duty in very wet conditions and is holding up fine. The brass has darkened over time but is holding up great. In fact the razor has a lifetime guarantee.

The rusty screws may be somewhat cosmetic but I still think the better grill manufacturers should spend a little more on a detail like that. But they didn't ask me :)
 
Greg M said:
Bruce I agree I wouldn't change out to stainless on flip grills. But a grill you plan to keep is a different matter. At least to me. It's partly cosmetic but I also don't really want that rust in contact with other metal parts on a grill i plan to keep indefinitely.

Jon I agree stainless 316 is the most corrosion resistant. But 304 is really good too and will last a long time as well. I was told the stainless screws that ace sells are 304. I used some of those 3 years ago on my two grills and they don't have a bit of rust.

The rusty screws may be somewhat cosmetic but I still think the better grill manufacturers should spend a little more on a detail like that. But they didn't ask me :)
Click to expand...

Greg,

I definitely agree that 304 is totally fine. I have had some doubts about the stainless nuts and bolts I have bought at Ace, etc. It does seem that some are NOT really 304 stainless, and the street sign situation I mentioned has shown some pretty uneven results. That's what drove me to look for alternatives. Marsh Fasteners seems like a really good company with very fair prices. I bought mail order, piggybacking some of my purchases with combined purchases for our community to save some on shipping. I recently found out that Marsh actually has a retail location not very far from me.

I was impressed with the 316 option, so I am trying it out. You can't really tell anything for a few years, so it up for grabs whether it works better or not. I do know the Marsh 316 hardware is non-magnetic for whatever that is worth. Some of my hardware store purchases of "stainless" have not been non-magnetic.

As far as using these on flip grills, most of my pick-ups have such bad screws that re-use is not an option. So, if I am going to have to buy replacements, it isn't really much more at all to use Marsh 316 screws, and it will hopefully give me another small marketing edge to point out to prospective buyers.

Now I need to finish my Skyline and then use these on some flippers!:rolleyes:
 
I don't really think you can go wrong with the 304 or 316 those screws are on the bottom of the slats not likely water is going to be a problem nor rust a big deal either. Those crappy screws Weber used are like what 20 years old they did the job.

The screws Jeff used especially for you flippers and Jeff correct me if I am wrong on the screw size but for 11 bucks Amazon Prime for 100 pieces seems to be a good deal. 11 cents a screw.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B075DF9DQR/tvwb-20

I admit when I did the 1000 I just used zinc screws from HD, I am 65 might outlive those screws before they go bad but not counting on it. Will buy those truss screws for the 1100 project that grill gets passed down to my other daughter can't give one a redhead and not the other one the same grill. :)
 
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Jon you made me check the screws I bought at Ace. They aren't magnetic. But based on your statement that they aren't all non magnetic I'll be checking them from now on before I purchase. :)
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
I don't really think you can go wrong with the 304 or 316 those screws are on the bottom of the slats not likely water is going to be a problem nor rust a big deal either. Those crappy screws Weber used are like what 20 years old they did the job.

The screws Jeff used especially for you flippers and Jeff correct me if I am wrong on the screw size but for 11 bucks Amazon Prime for 100 pieces seems to be a good deal. 11 cents a screw.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B075DF9DQR/tvwb-20

I admit when I did the 1000 I just used zinc screws from HD, I am 65 might outlive those screws before they go bad but not counting on it. Will buy those truss screws for the 1100 project that grill gets passed down to my other daughter can't give one a redhead and not the other one the same grill. :)
Click to expand...

Brian,

I will try to post a couple pics of some of the winners I have picked up:p! I guess in a less salt air environment it isn't that big a deal, but here those screws seem to especially corrode.
 
Under high heat even stainless will rust. That's the way it it is. The higher the grade of stainless the less likely it is to rust.
 
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